Dozens of police officers mingled with the public Tuesday evening in Community Park as Jacksonville held its second National Night Out.

National Night Out is a community and police awareness-raising event in the United States, held the first Tuesday of August. The event has been held annually since 1984 and is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch in the United States and Canada, according to Morgan-Scott Crimestoppers coordinator Loren Hamilton.

“I learned about National Night Out about seven or eight years ago, but until last year, the local Crimestoppers did not have enough members to host a National Night Out event,” Hamilton said.

“Last year, we held our first National Night Out with the help of the Citizens Police Academy Alumni. We were pleasantly surprised with last year’s turnout. Our goal is for the public to see first responders in a more relaxed atmosphere.”

Among those first responders attending the event was Jacksonville Police Chief Adam Mefford.

“I’m glad that National Night Out has made its way to Jacksonville,” Mefford said. “I hope we can mirror the success it’s had in other communities. I’m very pleased with the turnout of the Jacksonville Police Department at the event. With the different community-related activities we’ve been doing, I’m glad to see the interaction of our officers at this event.”

“I’m happy that we are able to continue to bring National Night Out to Jacksonville,” Vasquez said. “With our Citizens Police Academy Alumni and Crimestoppers sponsoring it, we are able to have the event grow. It’s good for the officers to interact with the community we serve at a positive social event.”

The event, which was sponsored by the Morgan-Scott Crimestoppers and the Citizens Police Academy Alumni, in cooperation with the Jacksonville Police Department, featured free Ferris wheel rides; tours of the Jacksonville Fire Department’s smokehouse; and children’s identification kits provided by the Masons at Harmony Lodge 3.

Distributing information at the event were Ameren Illinois, Jacksonville Public Library, Tri County Chapter of ABATE of Illinois, FBI Citizens Academy, Passavant Area Hospital and Relentless Animal Rescue.

Music was provided by disc jockey Randy Coultas and Isaiah Christian.

The evening’s activities concluded with a showing of “The LEGO Batman Movie.”